In the past, most professions exhausted our bodies, now they exhaust our minds. Different rules apply to sustainably deliver great work. Here are three hacks that can help you do just that.
1) nurture your wellbeing
Everything stands or falls with taking good care of yourself. Do what you need to do to thrive both physically and mentally. If you’re not feeling energetic, don’t stare at your screen for hours on end to force yourself to be productive. It doesn’t work and you drain your energy even more.
Instead, go for a walk, rest or socialize with other people. Do what you need to do to get back into an energised state of being. Whatever you do, don’t feel guilty.
Being physically present doesn’t mean you’re being productive. If anything, you’re doing yourself, your colleagues and the organisation you work for a service. You’re doing the right things to stay happy, healthy and productive in the long run.
2) Only do the work that matters
For just about any profession where you use your brain intensively there is always more work than you can possibly do. Make sure you spend your scarce time and energy only on work that really makes a difference. Ask yourself: what work will contribute greatly to my goals?
Do only that and nothing more. Be relentless in your pursuit of separating essential work from trivial matters. It makes all the difference between being busy and doing valuable work.
3) Aim for good enough right now
When doing the essential work, don’t strive for perfection. Perfection slows you down. Instead, adopt a ‘good enough right now’ approach. Ask yourself: what quality of work do I need now to progress?
It helps you focus on doing valuable work by striking the right balance between quality and speed.
Hack 1 has a big multiplier effect on hacks 2 and 3. A tired mind will cloud your judgment, making it more difficult to separate essential work from trivial matters, and determine what quality of work is good enough now.
Being in an energised and clear state of mind empowers you to be more creative, make better decisions, and keeps perfection at bay.
If you get one thing out of this, let it be this:
In this era where we work with our minds, working less can help to achieve more.
